it does in worldly punishments, and the very fact that He created people whose evil is removed through chastisement is part of perfect wisdom. Yet to create souls that commit evil in this life only to remain in nothing but torment both here and in the Hereafter—never tasting anything else—would constitute a contradiction that clashes with wisdom and mercy more than any other.

For this reason al-Jahm, when confronted with that implication, denied that Allah is “the Most Merciful of the merciful.” He said, “Rather, He simply does whatever He wills.” Those who followed his path, such as al-Ashʿari and others, likewise have, in reality, no place for divine wisdom and mercy; in their view He possesses only knowledge, power, and a will that favors neither side. Consequently, when they were asked to acknowledge that He is ḥakīm (wise), they reinterpreted it to mean that He is knowing, powerful, or supportive—yet none of those three necessarily entails wisdom. Once it is proved that He is both Merciful and Wise, and the falsity of al-Jahm’s assertion is recognized, it becomes incumbent to affirm everything that mercy and wisdom require (1).

What the Muʿtazila have said is also false; the claims of the deterministic Qadariyya and of the deniers regarding His wisdom and mercy are invalid. One of the gravest aspects of their error is their belief that they were supporting al-Jahm, for that position entails the very errors they espoused, and when the consequence is false the premise that leads to it is necessarily false as well (2). Allah, exalted is He, knows best.

As for the Qur’anic verses that affirm the everlasting nature of Paradise:

First: His saying, “Its provision is everlasting and so is its shade” (3). He explicitly tells us it is everlasting, and whatever ends cannot be called everlasting.

Second: His saying, “Indeed this is Our provision; it will never be exhausted” (4). Whatever comes to an end, by definition, is exhaustible.